Venezuela earthquake disaster: Needs are ‘extremely high’, aid agencies say

The miraculous story of the three-year-old’s rescue came in the worst-hit northern region, where tens of thousands of people remained without proper shelter, after the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck less than a minute apart, on June 24.

“As the death toll rises, the needs are increasing dramatically,” the UN refugee agency UNHCR said in an online warning on Tuesday. According to authorities, nearly 2,000 deaths have been confirmed and more than 6,400 people have been rescued so far.

The UN response to the earthquake includes: UNICEF: Airlifting enough supplies for 100,000 people for three months UNHCR: Providing shelter, warns many basic needs are on the rise. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: Coordination between dozens of international rescue teams that are still working. UNDAC: Assessing urgent needs across the most affected communities.

Many UN agencies and partners remain on the ground in the most affected areas, working alongside local authorities and relief partners to help families access shelter, health care, protection and other essential services.

The United Nations aid coordination office, OCHA, stressed on Wednesday that “every life matters,” while national and international search and rescue teams remained on the ground in La Guaira.

United Nations Disaster Assessment Coordination (UNDAC) teams are also helping to assess needs, and are continuing their work to find out “where and for whom humanitarian assistance is needed,” said UNDAC Public Information Officer Veronique Duro.

In total, about 1,000 buildings, including hospitals, were damaged or completely destroyed, along with more than 400 schools and water networks.

In response to the emergency, an initial shipment of 47 tons of humanitarian supplies from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) arrived in Venezuela on Tuesday.

These supplies come in addition to a regional shipment from Panama that arrived on June 28. Collectively, they will support more than 100,000 children and families over three months.

Urgent funding appeal

“UNICEF is on the ground and working around the clock to reach as many children and families as possible,” said UNICEF’s Gabriel Vokel, speaking in La Guaira. “The first flights carrying water, medicines and many other supplies have arrived in the country and we are grateful for this solidarity. We ask for donations to UNICEF because with more money, we can save more lives, reach more children, and reach as many families as possible.”

The shipment – facilitated by the European Union through the UNICEF Logistics Center in Copenhagen – includes emergency health kits for urgent medical care, and supplies for safe deliveries, newborn care, and disease prevention and treatment.

Water purification and storage supplies were also delivered, in addition to tents for child-friendly spaces and wheelchairs. Other entertainment and early childhood development supplies sent are designed to help children regain a sense of normalcy and continue learning.

“Families across the affected states are in desperate need of safe water, as well as access to health care,” said Roberto Benes, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Many are sleeping outside, afraid of more aftershocks. These supplies will help us get to children and families what they need now… but the needs on the ground are much greater than they have arrived.”

Children were affected in six states

The agency estimates that about 680,000 children need humanitarian assistance in the six states affected by the earthquakes – the most significant seismic event to hit Venezuela in more than a century.

UNICEF noted that “communities remain at risk from ongoing aftershocks, the number of which has reached more than 600 since the first quakes.”

UNICEF estimates that US$52 million is needed to respond to the earthquake emergency, as part of the broader 2026 Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal for Venezuela, which amounts to US$137.6 million, and was only 35 per cent funded before the earthquakes.

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